1. Where do I want to be in five years. This is a good question to ask yourself. In today’s highly competitive world one must have a clear vision of who he wants to be and where he wants to be within 5 years. I often find people that are approaching their fifth year in business, making a reasonable income but utterly frustrated with the amount of hours that they have to put in or frustrated with the type of work that they are forced to do, others just feel trapped and are looking for change.
Decide where you want to be in 5 years, write down on a piece of clean white paper where you want to be in 5 years professionally, socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually and economically. You gotta do it, as they say, if you don’t know where you are going any road will take you. If your not good at this get someone to help you.
The Question: What do I want my life to be in 5 years?
2. Do I have the shear will to compete and succeed at the business I have chosen and furthermore do I have the shear determination to follow my 5 year vision. Most successful business owners I’ve met have above average abilities and that’s what allows them to leave the job market and set off on their own. Many unsuccessful business people I meet have average abilities and are better suited for employment of some sort. So make a honest evaluation of yourself, don’t get caught up in the romanticism related to business. Be realistic about your own abilities, it will save you much time and money.
The Question: Do I have what it takes to make it?
3. If you are having trouble with the question above maybe this will help. They say that failure is the path of least resistance. So going further in evaluating ourselves, lets look at our track record. If you are a constant procrastinator and rarely get things done right this maybe a bad sign. If you often fail, quit, give up on things, well that’s not a good sign either. But if you follow through and stick it out most of the time, there is hope.
The Question: Whats the rest of your life look like?
4. What type of team do I have to make this thing happen? Throughout my professional career I have seen many individuals who claim to have a business but are actually self-employed. There is a big difference. Owning a business, you must have a team even if only one other person. Setting out on a mission alone is noble but hinders your growth and many times leads to failure. Working alone is a difficult prospect even for the most introverted of us.
The Question: Do you have a team?
5. Do I understand accounting is a very important question to ask yourself. People who do not understand the basics of accounting are detached from a …
Evolving Web 2.0 Tools Make Branding a Reality For Anyone
One of the challenges to starting a business from home is advertising. That is why network marketing has been a popular way to get into business for oneself. The cost of advertising is replaced with sweat-equity. Instead of taking out an ad a person could become a walking billboard for a company or product.
Advertising has long been difficult for the small business person. Large companies spend many millions of dollars branding their names in people’s memories. So when it comes time to buy, these companies hope the customer will think of them.
But how does the small business person compete with that? How can anyone brand themselves without spending huge amounts of money that may never be recovered? Especially if this person is just getting started and is forced to build a business on a shoestring. The answer…
The Internet
We all know the internet has been around for a while. But its recent evolution is making it very feasible for anyone to brand themselves in a particular niche while spending very little money.
This is a dream come true for the small business person.
Now anyone can target a niche and brand themselves as an expert in that niche while spending very little money. How is this possible?
Software developers continue to create tools that require absolutely no technical knowledge to use effectively. You can simply drag and drop items and create professional looking web pages, blogs, and other social networking pages. And you can write articles that ezine publishers will use including a link to your site or blog. You can create informative videos and broadcast them for free.
This is wonderful news for the home based business owner. But as great as all this is, keep one thing in mind…
You Need More Than Tools to Be Successful When Starting a Business from Home
Great as they are… they are just tools. They are free (or very cheap) and easy to use. They are powerful when used properly. But they are just tools.
The real power is in what you do with them. And it all hinges on identifying what people really want. Simply taking a sales message to the internet is your weakest option. As suggested above, your best option is to use the available tools to brand yourself as an expert in a particular niche.
Because that is want people are looking for… experts.
Products and services are means to ends. People really want solutions to their problems. And better yet – they want experts who can help them solve these problems.
Your biggest opportunity for building a home based business is to brand yourself in the eyes of thousands of people as the one expert they want to follow in solving certain problems. The tools help you do that in a marvelous way. They help you get the message out.
But you still have to have a message. What is that message?
It …
There are a large range of choices when you start: start from scratch, buy a franchise, buy an existing business.
Now what about home businesses?
The benefits of starting a home business are many:
– convenient: no commuting, can work in your time and very flexible, wide range of possibilities
– can be done in your own time while you still have a job
– no employees, less compliance and administration
– no expenditures and can be low starting cost (as opposed to expensive franchise or existing business or brick and mortar businesses). Bear in mind though any business requires some form of investment and little things add up quickly
– some can actually provide good income, BUT do not be fooled like any business big income will mean hard work at the start in most cases
some recent stats showed that a decent part of incomes generated by small and micro businesses in Australia is coming from stay at home mums who produce some income to support the family.
The downside:
– you can become insular and you need to be self motivated. That is not given to everyone and it can be difficult when there is a difficult time to face in the business
– no team environment: harder to learn, to motivate each other, to stay at the top of your game is always harder when on your own
– the scope is not always as big as for some other more traditional businesses where you can delegate and or leverage, but some do well. as usual it has a lot to do with the owner
– most importantly there is a lot of junk out there and people who are not very experienced can burn capital or energy in things that make it more challenging
– a lot of home business opportunities sell dreams and emotions and misconceptions like you will make money while you sleep. Yes that can happen but before it gets to there you’ll need to DO things. Too good to be true is usually right
– difficulty to address some large corporations or markets which do not really like to do business with people in their pyjamas, however internet, virtual offices and so on can cater for that problem
If you want to hear more make sure to visit regularly my posts on my site. I will cover other categories of business depending on comment on my posts to address the most burning topics and questions…
You have a great idea for your startup company. The idea of going into business for yourself has been brewing for a long time and you are finally ready to jump. The name of your company is key.
When it comes to choosing a name, you shouldn’t become obsessed but at the same time, you should understand that the most appropriate name is an extremely important part of your business and can definitely be a contributing factor when it comes to the success of your business. If the name that you have chosen for your startup is not the best, you may want to rethink that and rename the company.
Another thing to bear in mind when choosing a name is that you only have to pay for the name once and you will own it forever. It is important to be satisfied with what you have chosen so that you don’t have to go through the hassle at any time in the future of having to choose again. Additionally, if you have to change the name of your company, the longer you wait, the more expensive it will be.
There are many thoughts and factors that are important when it comes to choosing the name for your startup:
A description of what you do: The name should reflect what you do and what your startup stands for. A simple name is usually the best choice because it is easier than a more complicated name to remember.
A legal name: It is very important that you make sure that no other company has the same name as you have chosen and that the name is not trademarked to that other company. An easy way to find out if your name is unique is to go to .
A single-meaning name when spoken: Make sure that whichever name you choose cannot be interpreted more than one way when spoken out loud. An easy way to tell this is to tell someone the name of your startup and ask them to repeat it to you. You will be able to tell easily if there is any ambiguity in the name.
A single-meaning name in the search engines: If the name that you have chosen sounds like some other word, it will be harder for people to distinguish the name.
Your domain name can be obtained: When you try to register your domain name, you should have chosen a name that has not been registered by anyone else yet and can be purchased by you for a reasonable price. Your domain name should be simple, memorable, and should not have any punctuation in the middle of it. You want people to be able to type it easily. Also regarding the domain name, make sure that you get a name that has extension and . The reason why this is so important is that when people type in your company name and hit enter, it will go directly to your website. It won’t happen …
Writing for SEO purposes can seem contradictory to some. I disagree. If you want your blog to be SEO-friendly, you must make sure the keywords you are looking for are prominently displayed. However, keyword-using keywords can seriously hamper the readability and comprehension of your text. This is something you don’t want. A high keyphrase density could indicate to Google that your text may be overstuffed with keywords, which can have a negative impact on your rankings.
This article provides some tips for writing SEO-friendly blog posts. Both of these goals should be pursued together. We believe writing in an understandable language will bring you more visitors, and keep them on your website.
Before You Start: Do Keyword Research
Before you begin writing, you need to do a keyword search. To dominate search results, you must first determine what words your audience searches for. These are the topics that you should write about and the keywords that you should use in the text.
Once you have completed your keyword research and compiled a list of focus keywords for writing about, it is time to start writing. These are 10 tips that will help you create a great blog post.
Tips For Writing SEO-friendly Blog Posts
Your blog post must be well-written. Many bloggers simply start writing and type whatever they can think of when creating a new blog post. This may work well for those with natural writing skills, but it may not be the best approach for others. These are the rules I follow when I create a blog.
1. Before You Write, Think!
Before you begin, consider the message of your piece. What message do you want your readers to take away? Or what central question are you trying to answer? What is the purpose of your article What do you want the readers to do at the page’s end? Before you start, write down these questions and consider the search intent people may have. Looking at search results is a great way to gain insight.
2. Design A Structure To Support Your Post
Create a clear structure in order to write an SEO-friendly and readable blog post. You should include these elements in every post:
- Some kind of introduction (in the context of which you introduce your topic);
- A body is an area in which the main message is written.
- A conclusion is a summary of the main ideas and/or a conclusion.
Write down in a few sentences what you want to write about each section. Now you have a summary of your post. This will allow you to create a well-structured and readable blog post. Now it’s time to start writing.
3. Use Headings And Paragraphs
Although everyone uses paragraphs, not all people use them well. You shouldn’t just start each sentence on a new page because it looks nice. Try not to make them too long. Each paragraph should have its own idea and subject. Consider the main idea behind each paragraph. This main idea should …
Accounting is one the most commonly outsourced competencies in small business. Busy entrepreneurs either don’t want to spend the time or aren’t confident in handling the books and decide it is easier to have an in-house bookkeeper or professional accountant in charge. It is also very common for these same entrepreneurs to pay dearly for that decision.
Accounting is the function that records the financial history of the business. Managed correctly, it provides an accurate record of money in and money out, such that it is easy to identify many internal problems through the financial reports produced by these records. Managed incorrectly, it is a waste of time, a misleading mess of false information, and potentially the difference between the ultimate success or failure of the organization.
Like any other profession, there are certainly tricks of the accounting trade that are best managed by, well, the professionals. But the fundamentals of accounting should be familiar to every entrepreneur. The way your books are set up and the accounts that are used to track income and expenses should be well known to the business owner, such that you could take over the tasks if necessary (or at least train a new bookkeeper).
The position of bookkeeper in a small business is the number one opportunity for don’t assume that just because your bookkeeper is “like family” that they won’t rip you off. It happens all the time. There are a million reasons that people skim cash from their workplace, and not all of those folks are hardened criminals. The best way to avoid any potential of employees or contractors stealing from you is to understand what is going on with your accounting system. Embezzlement is far easier for an employee or outsource professional who holds all the ‘t let someone else set up and manage your books on their own. At an absolute minimum, sit side-by-side with your bookkeeper or accountant while the accounts are established and make sure you absolutely understand every line.
In addition, accounting must be completely accurate to be useful. In many cases, business owners rely on periodic financial reports from the bookkeeper to assess the health of the venture. However, if the books are not kept correctly (all entries correctly assigned to appropriate categories, entries checked for accuracy), the reports are completely useless. And, should you need to secure second round financing, you could spend up to thousands of dollars to hire an accountant to clean up the books before a bank will even talk to you.
There are all kinds of horror stories that start with the business owner relinquishing all responsibility for their own accounting system. Embezzlement is a common one, as are tax problems and employee issues. One business owner in Chicago learned the hard way not to trust others with every detail of his accounting system. After 13 years in business, his home theater installation venture was growing at a steady pace. When the recession hit, the owner reviewed his financial statements …
Are you tired of working for someone else? Have you been wishing you had more freedom and flexibility to work your day around your family or other responsibilities? Have you been considering starting a small business? Well, it is possible. There are more and more opportunities for people to live the American dream and make their hopes a reality. And there are many opportunities for prospective business owners to get the funding that they need to get their small business going.
Start up money is the biggest concern, and it is possible to obtain the start up from state grants through the government. There are also plenty of investors looking for a good place to put their money. And finally there are prior owners of businesses that will, in many cases, work with a prospective business owner to help them get established, take over the business, and have a set time period of which they will need to pay the business off in full.
But there are many small businesses that do not require much start up costs at all. Many businesses can be maintained and be run out of your own home. In this dot com age, there are many businesses that just require you to have a computer and a business license. If you have skills or talents that you can market, then it really will just be the marketing costs to get the word out there that you are in the business. Be creative with your marketing too and that will help keep costs down. For example if your business is an online business, then many other online businesses that are non competing will allow a reciprocal link to your site from theirs. This is a great way for online companies to help each other while helping themselves.
Once you have your small business going you want to have established clear cut goals for growth. Fortunately, there are many computer software programs that are designed for this very thing. Everything from payroll, to budget, to customer base for mail-outs can be found on good software that is made for the small business owner. Staying on top of what is going on with your business is key to your success. Write a mission statement before you even begin, post it where you can see it daily, and then proceed to do the things necessary to accomplish your mission to be a successful small business owner.…
Many individuals just don’t find it cost effective to go outside of the home to work especially when the purpose is to make money to supplement the primary income. For a start the cost of transportation is getting out of control. Then there are baby sitting costs, even a work wardrobe and a lunch budget to consider. So let’s figure out how to make money by working from home.
Chances are if you are a stay at home parent you don’t want to be taking on extra kids to mind as a means to make money. What you may want to consider is services for seniors. Now the problem is that many seniors are on a fixed income and they can’t afford extra services. It is hard enough for them just to be able to afford food.
This is where you make money. No, you don’t have to feel guilty because you are not going to be ripping the seniors off; in fact, you are going to be doing them a great service. As the budget for most seniors is very tight their shopping budget has to be scrutinized carefully to get them through until their next pension payment arrives. As a result, many times they don’t get proper food especially fresh fruit and vegetables.
For them to buy these cheaper in bulk the quantity is just too much and they end up wasting it instead of saving themselves money. So here is where you come in by making up “senior fruit and vegetable packs”.
For example, you buy a bunch of bananas, a bag of apples, a bag of oranges, a pineapple, some apricots, some grapes and some blueberries, that’s seven types of fruit. Let’s say you paid $3 for each of these so you looking at a total cost of $21.
Now if you were to divide these into 6 portions and charged each senior $5 for their package, you would be making $9 and the senior would be getting a whole week’s worth of assorted fruit for $5. That would equal $20 per month on average for each senior and make you $45 every 4 weeks.
Do the same with vegetables. The senior would be paying about $20 per month for vegetables. Finally, you could do the same with the meat for approx the same price. You have now allowed the senior to feed themselves a good wholesome meal every night of the week for the entire month at a cost of about $60.
This means they only need to buy light foods for breakfast and lunch. Everyone has been able to make money here. You with your sales and the senior with what they have been able to save.…
Many people looking to buy a business consider buying a franchise. After all, they think the franchisor has a cookie-cutter approach that can’t miss and they can just walk into the new business, which will be flush with cash. In the numbers I have read, four out of five new franchise businesses will not be around in five years. The numbers of franchises that fail are staggering.
Why is this the case? One reason may be that the franchisee does not have business experience and they do not know how to manage the business. Many people who buy franchises are “wowed” into only seeing the upside and not examining the downside. What things should a potential buyer be mindful of?
One thing that the buyer needs to see is a projected income statement for the year of purchase, preferably for each month of the first year and for the next several years thereafter. This is not something the franchisor normally provides, as the franchisor does not want to assume liability if the potential buyer does not make his or her numbers.
Since the potential buyer cannot receive these numbers from the franchisor, the potential buyer will have to assemble these numbers, perhaps with the assistance of their attorney or accountant, or both. Some of the numbers are available in the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular the franchisor must give you to inform you about the potential risks in purchasing the franchise.
It is important to know how much of the product or service you will have to sell to break even and how much you could potentially make. Most every franchise company charges a franchise fee as a percentage of sales. They also charge an advertising fee for regional or national advertising.
In addition, your franchise agreement may require that you buy all of the items necessary to make the product, or offer the service, from a vendor controlled by the franchisor. In this case, the potential buyer may not always receive the best prices, although the quality may be uniform. In many cases, the franchisor may have the right to approve where the franchise is located.
The franchisor may have located the site, negotiated and signed the lease with the owner of the property at a higher lease rate than the owner and the potential buyer would have done by themselves. The potential buyer then takes over the lease as a subtenant, not having any rights to the terms of the lease. All of these items are important as they have a direct bearing on the bottom line number you can potentially earn or lose once you own the franchise.
Many franchise agreements may require that the franchisee buy his or her equipment from the franchisor and is responsible to make substantial improvements to the facility to match the newer franchises as they come out. This may require additional investments in the future that you may not be prepared for at the outset.
Another thing to look at is the …